Breeders' Cup: Legendary ratings guru 'can't bet' on City Of Troy to win £5m Classic

A world-renowned ratings expert has said he won’t be backing City Of Troy to win at the Breeders’ Cup on Saturday.

Andy Beyer developed the groundbreaking Beyer Speed Figure rating system, the Beyer Speed Figures, which assess horse performance and are used throughout racing in the US. Now aged 80, the Harvard graduate and former Washington Post journalist, still bets and contributes to discussions on the major races.

He has also weighed in on whether Aidan O’Brien’s champion racehorse City Of Troy, the winner of the Derby, Eclipse and Juddmonte International, can win the £5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic on his first start on dirt.

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O’Brien rates the three-year-old the best horse he has ever trained and no stone has been left unturned to ensure the colt, a son of the US Triple Crown winner Justify, is in the best shape to fulfil his mission at Del Mar.

Beyer joined the to discuss his picks for all nine races on Breeders’ Cup Saturday and selected US challenger Fierceness in the Classic to defeat City Of Troy.

“There is so much European hype for City Of Troy,” he said. “To say he is Aidan’s best doesn’t do him justice with all the superlatives, maybe ‘the greatest horse to ever walk the earth’.

“I don’t know. I’m not betting him.”

He continued: “The thing you have to understand about this horse and his presence in the Breeders’ Cup Classic is that the owners, Coolmore, are really smart people.

“They are willing to take a shot at running a turf horse on the dirt for the first time in his life because it’s a free gamble.

“If the horse loses, well he didn’t like the dirt, he goes back to Ireland, stands at stud and makes a fortune at stud.

“But if he wins or runs well on the dirt, he becomes a valuable commodity in the North American market.

“This hasn’t worked too well for them in the Classic. Aidan O’Brien is the winningest trainer in the Breeders’ Cup, but his record in the Classic is 0 for 17. In the face of that statistic, I can’t bet this horse.”